Archives

Categories

Meta

Paradise on Air

Standard

There’s not much that sunny skies,turquoise waters, and white sands cannot cure. Getting robbed falls into that bucket. Spent the past few days at Gili Air, a lovely little island off the coast of Lombok – an island where you can lose yourself to life, which I believe is exactly what people from all over the world come there to do for a few days and sometimes end up spending years.

I arrived at Gili Air, windswept and disconcerted after my experience at Lombok and spent the evening seeking comfort from family. Therese and Jonas, whom I climbed Rinjani with, accompanied me to the island and we opted for the first place we could find – a homestay, which met the basic comforts but with a half unhinged lock, that in my paranoid state had me sleeping fitfully for the night.

The next morning, I scoured other places to stay with my sister’s help, and found some lovely little cottages near the beach. Forget the budget – this was going to be my splurge. After cleaning my disgusting belongings with baby wipes and dropping all my stuff at the laundry, I was back in the game.

I expected to spend just one more night at Gili Air but ended up there for four. My mornings were spent in the company of locals (Amir and Adi), Ocean 5 dive masters (Thanks Oliver and Mawi) and marine wildlife – sea horses, turtles (dude!), nemo (clown) fish, frog fish, nudibranches, lion fish, stone fish, feather stars and countless other species. And my evenings with four lovely ladies whom I met on my second night – dancing with the locals, grooving at a trance party with our very own DJ Matilda and talking under the beautiful starry nights laying by the beach. It was exactly the kind of therapy the doctor had prescribed.

Sometimes leaving for paradise (Bali) is hard when you think you’re already there, But the life of a traveler is one that is always in motion – and I’m excited about what lies in store.